Stricker moves to No. 1 in another category
February 9, 2010
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP)—Steve Stricker is No. 2 in the official world golfranking. He might be No. 1 on a list not so official.
Ever since Phil Mickelson won the 2004 Masters for his first major, thesearch for the “best player to have never won a major” has settled on SergioGarcia, mostly by default. The list had always featured players in their 30s orearly 40s who had won at least 10 times, were highly ranked and who had a coupleof close calls in the majors.
Garcia fits that now, with 18 victories worldwide and being in seriouscontention five times in the majors.
Now, however, the focus is shifting back to age.
Stricker turns 43 in two months. He has won a World Golf Championship, twotimes in the FedEx Cup playoffs (against some of the strongest fields of theyear), and he was in position Sunday to win the U.S. Open and the British Openin 2007.
He has avoided the label for so long because Stricker virtually disappearedduring a three-year stretch through 2005, when he lost his PGA Tour card anddidn’t even make it through Q-school.
Asked whether he was the best without a major, Stricker said he would takethat as a compliment. But he didn’t think the label belongs to him alone, nordid he think it would be easy to shed.
“There’s a lot of other good players that have not won majors,” Strickersaid. “Sergio hasn’t won one, Lee Westwood is looking for one. There’s a lot ofother great players that have not won a major, and it’s hard to do. You only getfour cracks at it a year, and there’s definitely a higher intensity at thosemajors.”
Westwood, who turns 37 this year, twice has won the money title in Europe.He came within a 15-foot putt of joining the U.S. Open playoff at Torrey Pinesin 2008, and only a three-putt from about 70 feet on the final hole at Turnberrykept him out of the British Open playoff.
The other player would be Kenny Perry, the oldest of the group at 49.
Perry only had seven victories when Mickelson won his first major, and hasbeen largely overlooked until winning three times in 2008 and coming within apar of winning the Masters last year.
No other player belongs on the list, either because they are too young(Martin Kaymer, Sean O’Hair), haven’t won enough (Paul Casey, Ian Poulter,Anthony Kim) or contended in enough majors (Robert Allenby).
RIVIERA RATINGS: The Northern Trust Open was moved up one week this year dueto a combination of the Winter Olympics and CBS Sports broadcasting the SuperBowl. It returns to its normal spot in the schedule next year, which should helpits TV ratings.
The overnight rating for the final round, when Steve Stricker won to becomeNo. 2 in the world, was 1.9. That compared with a 3.5 for the Northern TrustOpen last year, when Phil Mickelson won and it was not held the day of the SuperBowl.
The more reasonable comparison: The 1.9 was up from a 1.5 the Phoenix Opengot in 2009 on Super Bowl Sunday.
BEST IN OZ: Royal Melbourne has been rated the No. 1 golf course inAustralia for nearly a quarter-century by Australian Golf Digest. That changedwith the latest rankings, brought on by a critical change in criteria.
The magazine no longer rates the composite course, which was used for thePresidents Cup and other professional tournaments, but one in which the memberscan’t play.
Instead, the West Course at Royal Melbourne was No. 3, while the East Coursewas No. 8.
Topping the new list was another sandbelt gem, Kingston Heath, made evenmore famous for Tiger Woods winning the Australian Masters last November beforerecord crowds. New South Wales was No. 2.
“Kingston Heath was a consistent scorer across the board and was there forall to see when it successfully hosted the Australian Masters won by TigerWoods,” said Steve Keipert, editor of the magazine.
The composite course at Royal Melbourne will host the Presidents Cup nextyear.
THORPE OUT: Champions Tour golf Jim Thorpe was sentenced to one year inprison for failing to pay more than $2 million in income taxes. Then cameanother punishment—this one from the PGA Tour.
Thorpe told Golfweek magazine that he received an e-mail last Friday fromthe PGA Tour informing him that he has been suspended. It presumably was forconduct unbecoming a professional—the tour does not comment or confirm playerdiscipline.
Thorpe, 61, was not allowed to enter the Ace Group Classic this week inFlorida.
“I don’t know the bylaws, and there’s probably something in the(regulations),” Thorpe told Golfweek. “I guess they feel they have to protectother players.”
CINK HIGHLIGHT: It’s not hard to find the highlight of the last year forStewart Cink. Just check out the claret jug from winning the British Open atTurnberry for his first major.
More obscure is what happened last year at the Travelers Championship.
Cink didn’t realize until he arrived in Hartford, Conn., that this would notbe an ordinary pro-am. Among the amateurs in his group was Los Angeles Dodgersgreat Sandy Koufax.
“I’ve played with a lot of celebrity types,” Cink said. “He was the guythe most interesting to play with. Since his retirement, he’s hardly been in thepublic.”
Koufax ended his Hall of Fame career seven years before Cink was born, soCink didn’t know as much about him as he wanted. A few days after that pro-am,Cink checked the statistics “to see what he was all about.”
Among the most stunning numbers: In his last two seasons, Koufax had 53victories and 54 complete games.
“It was a good education for me,” he said.
DIVOTS: Jim Hyler of North Carolina has been elected to a one-year term aspresident of the USGA. … Among the amateurs competing in the Pebble BeachNational Pro-Am is Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, who will be playingwith 1998 Masters champion Mark O’Meara. … The Volvo China Open is back on theEuropean Tour schedule. It will be played a week after the Masters, on April15-18, at Jinji Lake Golf Club. …The Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico, heldopposite the Match Play Championship, already has five major champions in thefield, including David Duval and Mark Calcavecchia. … Nick Watney is nowengaged, proposing to Amber Uresti (niece of Omar Uresti) on Monday after TorreyPines.
STAT OF THE WEEK: The last time the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am wascompleted on a Monday was in 2000, which also was the last time Pebble hostedthe U.S. Open.
FINAL WORD: “If you can’t enjoy the view, you’re probably thinking aboutyour golf too much.”—Luke Donald, on playing golf on Pebble Beach.
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